Gordie Sampson at The Carleton August 3
Grammy-award winning Cape Breton native Gordie Sampson will play The Carleton on August 3 in support of his latest album, For the Few and Far Between. Tickets are $30 plus tax.
Splice Brings Mac Magic
Known primarily for its software training and Apple-related business solutions, Splice (1668 Barrington, 444-4225) is offering quite a lot more to its clients and customers these days. “We’re now doing repairs of Apple computers,” says Apple-certified trainer Woody Lidstone. “Laptops are really popular and with the portability of them, we tend to find people put…
Audio: Listen to reporters grill Peter Kelly on sewage plant secrecy
After today’s council meeting, myself, Metro reporter Kristen Lipscomb and Chronicle-Herald reorter Michael Lightstone grilled mayor Peter Kelly on the city’s continued secrecy in relation to the sewage plant failure. Council had just received a report from the Halifax Water Commission stating that a preliminary report explaining the failure was ready, and would be presented…
CBC TV’s Short Film Face-off follies
If you were home last Saturday night, maybe you caught the first episode of CBC-TV’s Short Film Face-off. For the next two Saturdays at 10pm, CBC will air six Maritime short films, three each week, to be judged by a panel of experts: New Brunswick arts journalist Christine MacLean, actor Nigel Bennet and Kelly Davis,…
Modest Mouse comes to Halifax, August 17
Now, here’s a show that won’t rip up your baseball diamond: Modest Mouse is playing at the Halifax Forum Multi-Purpose Room, August 17. Tickets for the all-ages show are $30, available in advance starting June 20, from TicketPro.ca and TicketPro outlets.
Look out! On the Hook for policy changes
Just a heads up folks! I recently got totally screwed over by the phone company and banks. turns out they can change policy and therefore your agreement. That means that they can change your bill and charge you more and there is nothing you can do about it. I even went through the Better Business…
some “women” can be so heartless
so this 38 y/o women is refusing to let her kids see their father…she allows him to see them twice a month for 2 hrs. his wife to be is not allowed around them yet she has already had 2 men living with her…both of which no longer reside with her. She has to be…
Ties, dress shirts, dress pants (to a lesser extent), how I hate thee…
Ok – I get it – I work in an office. We have a pretty slack / non existant dress code. Why is it that when me or my coworkers wear a tie, suit etc. everyone makes a big deal about how great we look? Yea, I look alright in the banana republic dress shirt…
Dollarama Bitch
To the lady who was at the Dollarama Store at the Halifax Shopping Centre last Saturday June 13th – you are a complete and utter moron! Yes the lady ahead of you had a lot of stuff to check out but she WAS there before you! Most of the staff was on lunch (they are…
Conned on the Commons
I’m strolling across the Commons. I’m excited to try out my new camera. The sun is starting to drop. In about ten minutes the light will be really nice for photos. I’m working my way through the camera’s bewildering maze of on-screen menus when the delightful sound of a child’s laugh makes me look up.…
Dear Boss,
FUCK. Seriously. Why must you constantly blame your shortcomings on me? All of our clients think that I am a fucking retard because you throw me under the bus every. Single. Day. I mean, I don’t mind taking one for the team every now and then, but I have been trying for over a year…
Dear Drivers,
Kindly be on the lookout for me. I’ll be the guy in the crosswalk. —Ped
Summertime and the living is smelly
Heads up and arms down to all my fellow public transit travellers who are adverse to bathing. It is summer so, please feel free to go home have a bath(using unscented soap), then apply, liberally, some deoderant(unscented as well). We all get the scent free policy but that is no excuse for bad hygiene. No…
I Hate Mondays
First, I’d like to admit that bitching about this is a bit inane, but I need to get it off my chest. When I woke up this morning, the day had so much promise; I woke up on time, and I was actually rested for once. That’s where the promise ended. As I walked out…
Canadian Forces…
Join the Canadian Forces, and live in an office for 20 years. How does that sound? Want adventure? See the world? Too bad. Budgets don’t permit that. Sorry. Stay in your office, and don’t dare gripe. Or they’ll take away your pay and put you in jail. —20 wasted years
I asked you out but then you don’t pay attention to me.
DEAR Friend We meet at a new Year’s Party we hung around each other. We went on dates i really like you. Asked you Out. But Now We don’t spend time Together .you Ignore me all the time. you go to your friends home instead of mine. I understand you have ADD, A disorder and…
Joel Plaskett: To LA and wherever Polaris is
Congrats to Joel Plaskett, the sole local representation on the just-announced long list for the Polaris Music Prize. Plaskett made the 2007 shortlist with Ashtray Rock. There will be approximately one million blog posts about this list today, so instead of adding to the noise, all we will say is Jenn Grant was robbed. (Full…
Photo flea market
The Atlantic chapter of the Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators in Communications is holding a photo flea market this Saturday, June 20, 9am-3pm, at the Shambhala School gym (5450 Russell, corner of Gottingen). Admission is free. For more information, go here.
Free screening of Outlander on June 18
Yes! This Thursday, Film Nova Scotia is hosting a free screening of the feature film Outlander, 6:30pm at the Oxford Theatre. The space-viking epic, which stars James Caviezel and a ton of locals in viking garb, never received a Nova Scotian theatrical release (surprise, surprise), so now’s your chance to play a bearded, bloodied Haligonian…
Rally for Iran
Members of the local Persian community are holding a rally in support of Irani presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi tomorrow, Tuesday June 16, at 5pm, on Spring Garden Road in front of the Public Gardens. Everyone is invited to attend.
Video: Totally Wicked music festival recap
We had to leave a little early (about the time the beer ran out), but, holy shit, we saw a lot of bands on Saturday night at the Totally Wicked music festival: a night of 18 bands created just for the night, playing one song each, which also meant marathon set-ups in the Khyber Ballroom.…
Come on…put the news paper back together
Ok, to anyone who read the paper at the doctor’s office, car repair shop, Burger King/Tim’s (you see where I am going with this) and did not put it back together, please stop being an inconsiderate dick. Just tidy up the pages and put the sections in alphabetical order. If you don’t have the motivation…
Just when I thought the ride from the butt-crack of the universe couldn’t get any worse, you prove me wrong…
Dear evening female bus driver Sunday June 14, I just wanted to let you know: It was really irritating when you took extended stops to chat on your cell phone at the Spryfield Mall, Mumford Terminal, the Oxford Theater, and Scotia Square. No one on the bus wants to listen to your inane conversations about…
To my slutty roommate…
Must you always bring random guys home at 3 am to get your fuck-on? It doesn’t matter if it’s Friday, Sunday or Monday, you bring home random men and you are so fucking noisy! It’s bad enough that I gotta hear grunts, moans, and the bed smashing all over the place. But on top of…
Halifax Bouncers
Why the hell would your management book a Slayer cover band (which was awesome btw) then not allow people to mosh? Then our buddy the bouncer looked super scared when all the punk kids turned on him after he tried to force them out and his fascist macho bullshit didn’t work. What did he expect?…
start watering or stop planting, for fuck’s sake
This could be a love post because damn doesn’t driving down Connaught or Jubilee or any of the south-end treed lined street on a spring day move me to tears with their beautiful canopy of leaves, but love posts aren’t read, so I’m turning this into a negative with a big shout out to the…
Lazy Ignorant Parents…
To the 2 parents in the wal-mart parking lot the other day..(and other parents who do this aswell) IT IS NOT OK to smoke in your car with your children …..You sat in your car …rolled the windows half way down and BOTH lit up….and sat in your car smoking……………. —feel sorry for the kids…
Cheery visitors get their Hands On History
I love working at Historic Sherbrooke Village. I especially love seeing the groups of children coming through for our three-day programs, and I get a huge kick out of dressing the adult chaperones. You folks are wonderful! So much enthusiasm, the willingness to go as far as possible to give the kids the best experience,…
Good Doggie
There are lots of nice dogs in Hfx, but you’re the one who makes me smile every afternoon when I see you on my drive home: a beautiful Golden who waits at Tupper to walk his/her little person home. You make me wish I still had a dog and I bet your people love you…
lucky to have you, hali
halifax, you’re great. sure, your harbour is a little rank and people drive too much, but you’re pretty close to perfect. thanks for the parks, waters, animals, ice cream cones, heritage, history, arts and culture, patios, smiles on the streets and bitches. i hope everyone takes a moment each day to appreciate what potential you…
Free Park & Ride Shuttle, Where Art Thou?
This one goes out to the organizers of a certain large ethnic festival hosted at a church. Your website says there is a FREE park & ride shuttle from 12-9 today. What your website failed to mention was who was doing the shuttle, and where people could pick it up. Worse, said shuttle never showed…
Savages
So I’m walking home from the pub with a slice and I see a group of shirtless guys, one of them carrying a 2×4 of wood, running down Inglis yelling “let’s fucking kill him”. They see me and head towards me but one of them yells “no, that’s not the guy”. I suppose it never…
You don’t know how much it means…
You gave me the gift of time today… Thank you so much for letting me go home early! Less than a week until my wedding and I have so much to do still! I love the people I work with! —Bridezilla
Mmmm.
Jeez louise with cheese. I tried making myself a good ol’ grilled cheese sandwitch and my stove top caught on fire. Nothing better then eating fire extinguisher fluid on toast! —Cats meow.
Thanks a lot… “friends”
So it was my birthday yesterday… had a big party planned for two weeks… a “big” party to me is 15-20 people (being a parent makes you “uncool” and its amazing how many friends you lose but thats another bitch.)… i send out a reminder two days ago.. and ONE… ONE!!!! friend showed up… thanks…
Lovely Being!
I’d just like to express my love for all you beautiful people of Halifax! So there. Also I’d like to mention my love for the trees of Halifax…!!! — tree fucker
No respect
To the oblivious asshole in Dairy Queen on Spring Garden last weekend, I want to thank you for obliterating my faith in humanity. Standing in line, your phone rings. You pull it out, stare at it, let it ring a few times so the restaurant knows you’re getting a phone call, then proceed to answer…
Don’t mess with my man
To the girl who won’t leave my boyfriend alone – BACK OFF. Bitch. You weren’t interested when you had the chance, and now he’s not interested. Stop stalking him, stop asking him to “hang out” or “catch up” with you, and stop pretending you that you are this little innocent girl who just wants to…
To all the jerk valley drivers…
PEDESTRIANS DO EXIST HERE, TOO! I’m not asking for perfection… just a little more awareness! It’s pretty irritating to stand at a CROSSWALK for ten frickin’ minutes because nobody will stop for 60 seconds. Yeesh! —Herbie
To all the brave and proud LGBT folks…
Thank-you all for having the courage to love, to express your love, and to share your love! I know it is tough, when people are negative – BUT! Remember, there are also SO many of us out there rooting for you! Love to all the others out there, believing in love! —Herbie
Escalator Etiquette
FYI PEOPLE!!! When choosing to stand on an escalator one should always stay in the ‘slow’ lane (to the right) and leave the left side of the escalator unimpeded so that those of us who do not forget how to walk when traveling escalators are able to do so without the self-importance and ignorance of…
The Oatmeal Regime
I’m absolutely sick of the lack of taste and colour in our oatmeal regime. I’m worried that Canada will ooze into a flaky, pasty Fascist oatmeal-ism, Scottish-style, based on my experiences this year in Halifax. Lack of looks, lack of hilarity, lack of tunefulness, and lack of reading ability worry me particularly. What happens when…
Musia Nova Scotia dot ca relaunches
Music Nova Scotia has launched its new website. If you are a musician who plays in Halifax, you should probably check it out, especially if you have any designs on playing or attending Nova Scotia Music Week in November. (Showcase deadline: July 10.)
Manners?
A) To the person who picked up the item we made,free, specifically for your organisation, a thank you would not go amiss. B) To the person who came into our store today asking for a monetary and product donation, picking your nose and eating it whilst asking for favours is not the best way to…
To The Bitch Editor!
Take it up a notch!! I used to love the way we bitch. It was witty, funny and to the point. Somehow it moved from the realm of ironic rant to a reality TV cat fight. It shouldn’t be about your personal problems — but problems we all share and do not have a venue…
Maybe I was wrong .. but…
Ok, driving home from work – I see a family of four – two young parents (early thirties) and two toddlers in their car going in the same direction as me. The toddlers are standing on the back seat with their heads pressed against the windows, obviously not in any form of child seat, or…
Shut the Hell UP!!
To my annoying, rude, inconsiderate neighbors… SHUT THE FUCK UP!! I am so tired of your bullshit. I do not pay a somewhat higher rent in a nicer apartment building to have to listen to you and your Whorey friends scream, bang shit and sing…badly, and blast your music at all hours of the night.…
PechaKucha returns Sunday night
This Sunday night we’re excited for the second installment of the PechaKucha series, where artists, designers and other smarty types talk, with images, for about six minutes each about their area of knowledge. Held at the Seahorse this time around, we have: Ashley King (Media Kaiser), David Chiasson (Ergoman), Michael Christie (Hooker), Melanie Strong (Electro-Widgeter),…
Gym Bitch
You know what I’m really sick of at the gym? People who won’t wipe down their fucking machines after they’re finished using them. There are wet towelette dispensers everywhere (and signs saying “wipe your fucking machines down”) for a reason, assholes. No one wants to bathe in your excess liquid DNA, jerkfaces. —Pretty Kitty
Pens madness
This is a big fat shout out to the Detroit Red Wings: FUCK YOU!! (if it so happens they beat the Penguins tonight) GO PENS!! — Dino
To a certain ex roomate….
Fuck you! How dare you have the nerve to bail on the lease sticking us with your filthy room to rent out and your disgusting mess. Oh yeah, thanks for the family of mice that now infest our apartment due to your nasty ass lifestyle and food everywhere in your room. Not only were you…
To the Knob who always blocks the back doors of the 58 Mumford
Hey buddy I can understand if there are no seats standing up but for the love of christ sit the hell down and stop blocking the door of the bus for people getting off the bus by the back doors… You are starting to creep me out a lot!!There are always tons of seats by…
The “P” stands for Procrastinate
I’ve been calling the SPCA for days. My neighbors’ cat has been limping around injured for weeks. My kids saw a cat get hit by a car a few weeks ago, and think it may have been this cat. About a week ago I noticed that the cat’s side is all black under it’s fur.…
Love that We’re Related
Props to my sis in Halifax who calls me every day with energy-enhancing tips for finishing my stupid thesis and general words of encouragement even though I’m all the way over on the other side of the country. Four hour time difference is no match for this sister’s affection! Thanks for taking the time. —Ack
Hal-Con transforms local cinemas
The folks from Hal-Con are staying busy. The actual science fiction and comic book convention may be 15 months away (October 29-31, 2010) but they’re out there reminding us of its imminent arrival. For example, at the Thursday, June 25 midnight premiere of Transformers at the Empire Cinemas in Bayers Lake and Dartmouth Crossing—or DX,…
I’ve had it with the DAILY Jimmy Melvin JR Saga Updates
This morning’s Drive to work started with a headline Story about Jimmy Melvin Jr’s latest encounter with the LAW What a surprise!!! For the last few months, it seems that at the slightest move by our local GANSTA Celebrity, reporters are not far behind to grab the latest scoop. The stories frequently lack content and…
helping hand
high fives to the guy who helped me carry my large armful of groceries to the check-out tonight. and bonus high fives for trying to retrieve my avocado, who succeeded in escaping my clutches, and rolled under a shelf. —emma
Razor
Why the fuck can’t I find a place in Halifax who will do a straight razor shave? Seriously, there is a demand for it however small that demographic may be… —Beard
Stupid Bike Fucks!
Fuck you fucking moronic bicycle riders who ride the wrong way down one-way streets in the north end. You’re going to hurt someone one of these days. Either that or it is only a matter of time before YOU going tumbling over the hood and windshield of a car. And another thing, get the fuck…
You had a car, I didn’t.
Way to ruin my birthday. I walked home and looked up to see a bunch of you losers driving past to splash a puddle purposely in my face, and while driving away covering your mouths as though you “didn’t mean to splash me that much.” I know who you are and you talk about me…
Election signs
While I’m in a pissy mood …TAKE THE FUCKING SIGNS DOWN! …it’s over, it’s a weekday, get them down. Once agin, another (see loud pipes bitch(s) ) non-existant law..or one that is not enforced. How long do we have to endure? —Flyingbrick
You saint!
Thank you so much to the random girl that lent me a dollar for the 185 Link last night. You’ve renewed my faith in the kindness of strangers! —short on change
Wascally Wabbits
To the guy I overheard on the bus talking about getting his pet rabbit stoned, eff you!! Not to mention all the other sick shit you pretty much bragged about doing to the poor creature. Bunnies are awesome, I hope you rot in hell!!! —bunny with a pancake on his head
HONK HONK HONK AHHH!!!
To the jackass that set off the car alarm outside my bedroom window at 2am lastnight… and to the car’s owner who didn’t turn it off. I’m on my third cup of coffee and barely making it through the morning because I got a grand total of 3 hours sleep lastnight. I’m sure I’m one…
Stay in the bathroom
Dear G.F and everyone else who while brushing there teeth insist on fucking walking around the house and doing shit. I dont want to see your toothpaste drooling from your mouth, hear you mumble while trying to speak to me or someone on the phone. So how about doing over the sink like a civilized…
Not Sexy!
Fuck you Cancer!! You have killed enough people I know already!! Young and Old! I wish you would just fuck off already or some doctor would hurry the hell up and find a way to nuke your ass. How the fuck have we not been able to kick your ass to the curb yet!?!?! You…
Dartmouth High School students protest bus terminal expansion into the Urban Wilderness Park
Several dozen Dartmouth High School students braved a downpour to hold a spirited protest against Metro Transit’s plans for an expansion of the nearby Bridge Terminal. They carried signs calling for preservation of the Dartmouth Common, and chanted “Metro Transit, we need a better plan,” and other slogans. The students were well received by passing…
Daniel Olson tosses his toys at Dal Art Centre
After a wildly successful and steamy time at SeaDogs last night, the Sound Bytes Festival fun continues this evening at the Dalhousie Art Centre. Montreal-based artist Daniel Olson, one of the artists in the Dal Art Gallery exhibition Resounding, is performing “Coloured Plates.” Olson has collected toy xylophones over the past 15 or so years,…
Soldiers volunteered
To the editor, Becky Thomas’s “Military madness” (May 28, News) left me a bit chuffed. Citadel High children were given space in the paper with their protest about military recruiters in schools. Being a service member, I feel that these children are sorely misinformed. From the article: “One of my friends recently got recruited” (my…
Common commandeered
To the editor, For the last 15 years, I’ve spent Sunday afternoons playing baseball on the Common. Some of my teammates have been playing together here for 30 years. While we play, the rest of the diamonds are full; there’s also an ultimate frisbee game, the regular cricket match, flag football, a pickup soccer game…
al-Fresco announces new home and this year’s film series
There’s been a lot of buzz about the future of alFresco Film Fresco, the outdoor film series, when it lost its alfresco location at the waterfront Electropolis building. No fears—-the series has found a new indoor/outdoor home at Pier 20 (try a Google map search for “alfresco filmfesto” for the location), which means no more…
roomdoom: funny wee songs about food and art
Out of a mutual desire to have fun, make people dance and eat sandwiches, roomdoom was born. The band is barely five months old, but in that time, they’ve played at least 10 shows, including house parties, galleries (inside a fabric dome at the Khyber ICA), at the recent Obey Convention and two very different…
Granelli’s children: Panos Gianoullis and Denma Peisinger
Denma Peisinger is living with master jazz percussionist and composer Jerry Granelli, doing an “old-fashioned apprenticeship.” Peisinger, who plays bass, and guitarist Panos Gianoullis met while studying with Granelli in a program teaching free jazz to young musicians at the Atlantic Jazz Festival. They have been collaborating recently, as well as playing in Granelli’s ensemble…
NDP majority: What to do now?
The dream is dead. Long live the dream. For more than 30 years, Nova Scotia New Democrats have enjoyed the ultimately unsatisfying luxury of pointing to smug, don’t-blame-me-I-voted-NDP stickers tattooed on their foreheads while the province lurched from one profligate Tory farce to the next corrupt Liberal tragedy and then back again. And again. And…
Krasnogorsk and the Moscow Country Club get around
The Krasnogorsk is a Soviet movie camera and a suburb of Moscow, but Halifax’s Krasnogorsk can be found playing on the number seven bus, in trees, on the Common or on tall ships. Violinist Jacques Mindreau interrupted baritone ukulele player Corey Hinchey’s interview with a potential roommate last fall; he “started playing music with him,…
Gianna Lauren fits in swell
“I didn’t have a job, I wasn’t coming for school, I just got in my car and drove here,” says Gianna Lauren. The Edmonton native arrived via Ottawa in January, with an EP (Fist in a Heart) and a plan: to become part of the local music scene. “I found the scene really insular,” she…
Electro Chiac Therapie: brutal acadian punk
“We thought, ‘Let’s do all sex lyrics, but we’ll do them in French so nobody knows what we’re talking about,'” says Lindsay of ECT. Two-thirds Acadian, the threesome (by stage names Lindsay Sue, Mimi Ostie and Fritzi LeBaron) sing in chiac, known as an English-tinged “brutalization” of Acadian French. They get audiences dancing by playing…
OWL under pop’s quiet wings
OWL came into existence last summer when Matthew MacDonald made a few tracks on his computer and convinced girlfriend Vanessa Murnaghan to write lyrics for them. After an initial bout of nerves, the pair had a song and sent it around to friends. “They liked it,” says Murnaghan, “so we just kept making more.” Murnaghan…
Paper Beat Scissors make abstract sounds
Remember playing rock, paper, scissors during recess in elementary school? Well, Tim Crabtree’s project Paper Beat Scissors has little to do with childish games, but there is something youthful about his approach to music. Instead of locking himself in the ivory tower of song, he begins by tinkering around on guitar and making sounds reminiscent…
The Pushers keep pushing it
Because you’ve become an old and boring punk, doesn’t mean the music you make has to be the same. The Pushers, who have about a million years of collective experience playing in bands, are one of the more exciting acts playing punk rock in Halifax. The reason stems from the fact that this band is…
Road Rash: worship the skateboard
There hasn’t been a band in the Maritime punk scene since FYM that worships skateboarding as much as Road Rash. Their demo, released earlier this year and sold out of an old pizza box, could and should be the soundtrack to the movie Thrashin’. Made up of Dartmouth inhabitants Bobby Swagger, C-Wilk, Peter Van Shmansen…
Maritime artists address environmental issues
Reasoning with a psychopathic culture hasn’t been much fun for environmentalists. It’s probably futile anyway—if you wanna change minds, you gotta touch hearts first. And touching hearts is the work of artists, not policy wonks. “Art hits us viscerally,” explains spoken word artist Laura Burke. Burke, known for dropping earth-loving rhymes, will compete as part…
Kelly Sloan gets used to centre stage
Kelly Sloan calls her debut LP, Always Changes, an accident. Released in March, the alt-country indie-pop collection was inspired by her roommates, Dale and Brian Murray, who encouraged the Ottawa Valley transplant to write a song for them to produce. “They kept coming and they sounded good and then I had nine or 10,” says…
The Hangover is ultimate bromo movie
The secret society of white man-children in their 30s is currently the most represented group in American comedies. For this reigning (and tired) subgenre, The Hangover represents a high point. It’s more quick-witted, and just as character-based as I Love You, Man and its director Todd Phillips’ Old School. The best scene involves the three…
Three Sheet not limited to hip hop
“If you owed me $2.50 I’d say you owed me a 2.50-sheet,” says Matt Kliffer, lyricist and beatboxer. “It’s something that has yet to exist, it’s not printed by the government. We’re our own kind of currency.” Three Sheet—Kliffer (AKA Expedyte), bassist Kevin Tilley, beatboxer EMC (Eric McIntyre), guitarist Ryan O’Quinn and vocalist Vanessa Furlong—have…
Comic of the month: Blazing Combat
It’s interesting to read previously banned literature and it’s even more satisfying when the material is an outstanding representation of a medium’s potential. Blazing Combat is a new hardcover book that collects the entire short-lived 1960s anti-war comic of the same name. The black-and-white comics were originally published by Warren Publishing in 1965-66, before American…
Land of the Lost fun in short bursts
The root of Land of the Lost’s charm is also the limit of its appeal. Against the stone-faced big summer blockbusters (most exemplified by the zero-fun Terminator Salvation), this adaptation of the camp mid-’70s series has deliberately hokey sets and special effects. This makes for an unassuming take on Saturday morning TV—a light retro distraction,…
York Redoubt don’t waste time
Made up of Mike Wright (bass, vocals), Caleb Langille (guitar, vocals), Brad Lahead (guitar, vocals) and Noah Dalton (on drums; Dalton replaced his older brother Seamus after he left Halifax for school), York Redoubt may play with clock radios on stage, but no one can accuse them of wasting time. Currently touring across Canada and…
Musical layers peeled back in Sometimes Always
The elevator doors to the third floor part, allowing multiple and intermingling sonic currents to rush down the length of the narrow corridor, flooding the carriage. Against the flow of machine and mouthed sounds, a visitor steps into a gap in the room; a breathing space to pause and get bearings before plunging into Sometimes…
Easy Virtue a light concoction
The friction in Easy Virtue crosses class, manner and continent. John Whittaker (Ben Barnes) returns to his family’s British estate with his American wife Larita (Jessica Biel). For John’s mother (Kristin Scott Thomas), pent-up with anger over the decline of the aristocracy post-WWI, Larita’s carefree manner is vile. The film version of Noel Coward’s stage…
Singing Christina Murray’s praises
Camerata Xara is definitely not your grandmother’s choir. The cutting-edge young women’s choir is pushing the boundaries of traditional choral music. The group’s conductor, Christina Murray, avoids conventional church music, finding inspiration in trippy dream sequences; feminist theories of power-inversions; foreign melodies that confuse Western ears; edgy Scandinavian choral ensembles and theatre. “The group has…
Café Aroma Latino provides simple pleasures
I want diversity, you want it, we all want it: That’s a modern culinary conjugation. Problem is, while we say we want the taste of other cuisines, often it’s a case of us managing our own expectations over another person’s taste. For instance, northerners often expect hot from the equator. Don’t be shy, turn up…
The Baketones are locals faves
It’s not often that a band receives unanimous praise from the likes of Halifaxlocals.com. But The Baketones managed to inspire five pages of accolades on the local message board—after their first show ever, this past February. “I wondered how we managed to dupe all these people,” says guitarist Morgan Rigby. After a quick listen at…
Shit happens
Q: I am a 28-year-old straight woman who has been dating a 24-year-old straight male for two months. Recently, I gave him oral sex while he was seated naked on my couch. The next day, as I went to sit on the couch, I noticed a brown stain on the cushion that looked highly suspicious.…
Addicted To Plastic
Canadian documentarian Ian Connacher put a lot of effort into learning about plastic for the appropriately named Addicted to Plastic, and he wants us to know it. Why else would he start the film with a list of impressive-sounding figures? (“Five continents; 12 countries; 160,000 kilometres…49 interviews; nine factories; six landfills.”) Connacher’s quest to learn…
Bike Rodeo du it clean
Made up of Nigel Tinker (Joyless Streets), Mike D’Eon (The Establishment), Matt Nichols (The Stance) and Niall Skinner (Their Majesties), Bike Rodeo play a loud blend of 1960s garage rock and ’90s Brit rock. D’Eon says, “It was the first band I was in where we just jammed for a good couple months to find…
Surfdonkey directors ride high
There is a moment in Surfdonkey Episode Nine when Lance Moore is asked how long it’s been since he was in the water. “About… 23 days,” he says. Not “about 25 days.” Not “about three weeks,” but “about 23 days.” This is a guy who clearly lives for being in the water, if he can…
Bloodhouse cut it short
Alexander Mitchell (Tomcat Combat) started Bloodhouse in the winter of 2008, when he was living outside of the city and bored. “I had never composed songs before so it was nice to be able to develop a catalogue of super-short songs. I am in no way a guitar player so the simpler the song, the…
Food safety issues related to harbour ignored
Since the Halifax waste treatment plant failed in January, more than 100 million litres of raw sewage has been discharged into Halifax Harbour daily. Worse still, last month the screens at the sewage outfalls were removed, so the sewage includes lots of “floatables,” the toilet paper and tampon applicators that rise to the surface. Is…
Ria Mae has a new job
Halifax fosters new creativity. At least that’s how Ria Mae sees it. Recently the songwriter quit her construction-management day job to take on music full-time, a bold but necessary risk. “Deep down, I know that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” says Mae. “I’ve had to downsize and am living very differently, but…
To my “bridesmaid”
Thanks for planning our engagement party and bailing for your loser bf. He treats you like garbage & none of your friends like him BECAUSE of this. Someone who threatens to cheat on you or calls you a fat stupid bitch when things get rocky is not one worth fighting for…or losing a real friend…
Straight up rip off
Thanks for ripping off my friend who paid to have your old piece of junk Grand Am 97 or 99 repaired. $1050.00 dollars in damge for a rusty old front bumper. Car value only $ 1200-1500. , but could you be fair ? Hope you smash into a Ferrari , then he takes your cash.…
Controlling parents
To the parents who can’t keep their noses out of their children’s business, who attack their children’s significant others because it threatens their power over them, whose drug and alcohol abuse ruin events, whose passive-agressive behavior have turned my life into a hell, please behave civilly, or if you can’t, just leave us alone. To…
Right under the sign..
To the woman glaring at me while I swept up cigarette butts outside my store this morning, puffing on a cigarette right under the sign next to the doorway that says “NO SMOKING”… what was your fucking deal? Why were you giving me the dirty stink-eye, and why did you feel the need to walk…
Abandoned car in Scotia Square parking garage
What’s wrong? Abandoned car in Scotia Square parking garage. Who’s responsible? Crombie REIT, 429-3660. Remarks: Rod, a reader, complains that this wine-colour Ford Escort has been parked, after a fashion, on the Albermarle side of the garage since February—so long that its tires have deflated, and depriving him of a street-level space. “Yeah, I’ve been…
